Forgive Channel 9 for trumpeting its own anniversary during Sunday night’s newscast. The story, by Gary Shapiro, duly noted that the station’s history reflects Denver’s history, from dirt roads to streetcars, from radio to TV and beyond.

The milestone is not exactly news, but it is noteworthy in cool spots the station is running through the month. The then-and-now spots, with audio from 1970s promo material, are a kick. There’s a baby-faced Shapiro and Patti Dennis, side-by-side with their current selves. Ed Sardella, “Stormy” Rottman, Carl Akers and other veterans, on the left huddled around clunky vintage computer terminals in the old Bannock Street basement, in the building that’s now Rocky Mountain PBS. On the right, current staff in the much more plush digs on Speer Blvd. On the left, giant satellite trucks and bulky shoulder-mounted cameras, on the right, iPhone and iPad.

Check out the anniversary spots by Robert Springer, Drew Sidener, Andy Schaeffer and Tommy Collier, here and here.

Joanne Ostrow has been watching TV since before "reality" required quotation marks. "Hill Street Blues" was life-changing. If Dickens, Twain or Agatha Christie were alive today, they'd be writing for television. And proud of it.